


Gnothi Seauton (Know Thyself)

by Draco_sollicitus



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Angst, Ariadne and Dionysus, Ben as Theseus, Brief/Mentioned Ben/Rey, Character Death, F/M, First Time, Fluff, Greek gods, Kidnapping, Mistaken Identity, Mythological Damerey, Rey as Ariadne, Smut, Violence, Wedding Night, does this count as Identity Porn, it's all there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2019-06-29 23:27:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15739473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draco_sollicitus/pseuds/Draco_sollicitus
Summary: When Rey of Crete agrees to show Ben of Athens the way out of her father's labyrinth, he promises to take her away from her horrible life. However, when they stop on an island to rest, she awakens the next morning utterly alone.Distraught and abandoned, Rey prays to the gods for help, and resigns herself to her fate. But the sudden appearance of a handsome, mysterious stranger gives her a fragile hope that she might just survive this...She never expected to fall in love with him.





	1. Left Behind

**Author's Note:**

> Some notes!
> 
> First, a summary of the Theseus aspect of this: the beautiful princess of Crete, Ariadne, helped him escape the maze, using a spool of thread. In thanks, Theseus removed her from the palace, as her life was now forfeit. The first chance he got, he dumped her on a beach while she was deeply asleep (hinted that he might have had a hand in that), and abandoned her to the elements. In this fic, Ben is Theseus, and Rey is Ariadne. 
> 
> **Mild warning: Poe hears Rey crying, and he assumes (very mildly implied) that she had her virtue robbed by Ben/Theseus, something that angers him greatly. It is only implied, but I wanted to give a brief heads up that he assumes she was sexually assaulted (she wasn't). It largely informs much of the way he treats her, with great care and caution.
> 
> **To explain the "identity porn" tag: I don't want to ruin the surprise if you haven't studied the story of Ariadne (also i'm taking wild liberties with the story, here, to fit the fic! this is not really a faithful retelling), but know that Poe lies (not out of cruelty) to Rey about who he really is. Everything else he tells her is /true/ and he's not at all trying to hurt her when he lies (quite the opposite)
> 
> **If you want to skip the smut, stop at the line "“I promise, then,” Rey covered his hand with her own, her heartbeat indistinguishable from his own, from the rhythm of the ocean hundreds of yards away. “I am yours.” and then continue at the next set of three asterisks (***)

When Rey awoke, she was alone.

Panic seized her immediately, and she saw that the evidence of the men she had been traveling with was almost wiped entirely clean from the beach. “Ben?” She shouted, staring off into the distance, her hand shielding her eyes. She made a noise of disgust, her head pounding – what had been in her drink? She had fallen into such a deep slumber after Ben had passed her the wineskin, but he wouldn’t –

Rey looked down at her clothing worriedly – nothing was askew, and her coin purse remained attached to her hip. He hadn’t robbed her, so why –

He had left her, she realized with a jolt. She had given him everything, shown him the way out, risked her life, and swallowed his pretty promises. And he had _left her._

She would howl with rage if she thought it wouldn’t waste her energy. A small supply of water was further up the beach, in the shade. Rey scoffed angrily. Ben must have thought that a mercy. “Never trust a hero,” she muttered angrily, storming up the beach. She removed her himation, and her ties, and then she twisted her hair up into a braid.

It was time to get to work.

She wouldn’t die here. She wouldn’t.

***

When night came, her grief thundered back. Rey wept into her hands, her dwindling supply of water next to her on the sand. She had constructed a small shelter of palm fronds, a bed of which lay underneath her hasty lean-to. She’d found some berries she prayed were edible, and consumed those as well, and her stomach gnawed at itself in anxiety and hunger.

“How could you?” She sobbed angrily, staring out at the sea before burying her face in her knees, her legs drawn up to her chest. “How _could_ you? I’ve lost _everything._ ” She sobbed and ranted like a madwoman, but there was no one there to hear her misery.

Or so she thought.

***

When she awoke, her eyes gritty and tired, she took a deep, quivering breath and stood. She cried a few residual tears, and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to force the wave of agony back down.

“Are you alright?” Startled, Rey looked to side and saw a tan, athletic man gazing at her. He was perched on driftwood not far from her meager campsite, and his head was tilted to the side while he examined her.

His chiton was short, to his knees, and frayed at the edges, as though worn down over time. He was – well, he was beautiful, far prettier than Rey could ever hope to be, with a broad, flat nose, and a broad, muscular chest, and a dimple in his cheek when he smiled. She shook herself, and scowled.

“I’m fine.” She turned and tried to start her fire again, to no avail. “What are you doing here?”

“Same as you, I imagine,” he said cheerfully. She didn’t bother turning around. “My boat was dragged out to sea, I wrecked it on this shore a while back, and here I am.”

“Oh.” A sailor then. Perhaps he knew how to fish. “I came by boat as well.”

Stupid. How else would she have gotten here? He didn’t speak for a moment, and Rey wondered if he was considering leaving. The thought made her oddly lonely, no matter how unexpected his appearance was.

“I heard you crying last night,” he said softly, and Rey stiffened.

“Like I said, I’m fine,” she snapped.

“…did someone hurt you?” He was still talking, and Rey rolled her eyes. They were trapped here together, though, so she shouldn’t be too short with him. He could prove useful.

“No.” Rey turned to look at him, and she knew the truth was written on her face by the look of sympathy on his. “What’s your name?” She asked to change the subject.

“Poe.” He grinned and leaned back on his hands, flexing his not inconsiderate muscles. “And yours?”

“I’m Rey,” she said, kicking at the sand gently.

“Just Rey?”

“Just Poe?” She countered, and he laughed lightly. It was a bright sound, and it filled part of the hole in her heart shockingly well. Rey elected to ignore it, and turned to her water supply.

“You need a proper shelter.” He stood and examined the fronds she had gathered dubiously.

“I need you to go away,” Rey snapped, still embarrassed to have been caught in her misery. “Sorry.” She shook her head. “Sorry, I’m just – it’s been…not wonderful lately.”

“I understand.” Poe’s smile was kind, and she found herself falling forward into it, almost like a magical pull, but—no. “I can build your shelter up, if you’d like.”

“Fine. I’ll look for water, then.” Rey grabbed a nearby stick, intending to use it as both weapon and support on her travel across the island.

“Don’t bother.” Poe held a full waterskin out to her, and Rey took it, blinking in surprise. Where had he gotten this? She must be more addled than she thought. “Drink some of mine. I’ll get more later.” She hesitated, and he took an exaggerated sip from it before handing it to her. “Seriously. Take it. I don’t mind sharing.”

“Thank you.” Rey accepted it and sat on the pile of driftwood while Poe worked steadily into the morning.

***

By the end of the first week on the island, Poe had entirely migrated to her campsite. “No point in being alone!” He said cheerfully, and Rey had begrudgingly acknowledged it to be true. No predators had made themselves known, but she’d be a fool not to accept his help and the security his presence offered.

On the eight morning, she felt him settle next to her on the sand as she gazed out to sea.

“Why do you look so sad?” He asked quietly.

She shrugged, realizing there was no point in hiding the truth. “I gave up everything for a man whom I thought was trustworthy. After I turned my back on my family, he promised to marry me in thanks. We stopped at this island so the men on his ship could stretch their legs and we could gather some resources, and they threw a party. But…he … he drugged me, and left me here, with nothing. I woke up alone; I’ve never been so afraid…I’m not entirely sure what happened.”

She wondered if she would ever know why Ben had chosen to leave her. _Because he’d gotten everything he could out of you. Why would he even marry you – your title means nothing, after you betrayed your father._

No. Rey couldn’t regret betraying Minos. He was a cruel, horrible man, and the Minotaur lay slain at Ben’s hands. She couldn’t regret that.

Poe had gone very still next to her, and she turned slightly to look at him from the corner of her eye.

He was furious. His skin practically vibrated with it, and Rey shivered at the sight. Poe was an amiable, sweet man – but this anger, this _fury._ It was terrifying.

“He should die,” Poe snarled. “A painful, horrible death.”

Rey shrugged. “In his line of work, it’s not entirely impossible.” She turned fully towards him and smiled, reaching out to cover his hand with hers. “Do not waste your energy being angry on my behalf.” Poe’s expression didn’t change, and it looked like he was fighting something down, an odd energy roiling out from him. “Here. Tell me the story of your necklace.”

“My necklace?” Poe murmured, his free hand reaching to toy with the beautiful silver ring that hung on a thin chain around his neck. Rey nodded, and he blinked, his expression clearing. “It was my mother’s.”

“It is beautiful,” Rey said encouragingly. “Is there a story behind it?”

Poe nodded, his fingers still fiddling with the object, his eyes still lost to the sea. “It would have been her wedding ring, but…there were complicating factors. She died in a horrible accident caused by my father. He’s never forgiven himself.”

“Oh.” Rey winced at the pain in his voice, and squeezed the hand she still held. “I’m so sorry, Poe. What was your mother like?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Poe smiled at her sadly, his eyes nearly vacant when he turned to look at her. “I only have stories, and brief flashes of memory. She died when I … well, when I was very young.”

The ring seemed to have some sort of inscription on it, but Rey felt it would be too obtrusive if she asked to examine it. Instead, she leaned into Poe’s shoulder, and left her head resting there while she took a turn at looking at the ocean. “Thank you for telling me,” she whispered, and Poe nodded. A moment later, his head tilted so that it rested on top of hers.

It felt oddly peaceful, even if they were both doomed to die here.

***

The weeks passed in a similar fashion. Poe and Rey traded stories – and Poe made up wild tales about fauns and wild parties and the wild forests and mountains of Asia, causing Rey to clap her hands in delight more than once – and continued to work to make their small island a home.

Rey would sometimes walk amongst the trees when Poe left the camp to get more water or hunt for food, marveling at the green, beautiful light. She often forgot that she was cursed to be trapped here forever more, especially when she returned to camp to find Poe cooking his daily catch over the fire, his weather-beaten chiton a striking contrast to his tan, golden skin.

He fascinated her, she knew that much – but she was still so hesitant to open her heart, after what happened with Ben. She hadn’t loved the hero of Athens, she knew that much. But she had thought one day she _could._

Poe was easier to read, though, his moods more stable, his affect kinder. It must help that he clearly wasn’t a princeling, unafraid to tease her, unafraid to share his thoughts as though she were an equal.

And sometimes she caught the way he stared at her over the fire, and her whole body flushed. She understood what those looks meant. Rey would be lying if she said she hadn’t considered it. But she had been hurt before, and was generally unwilling to be hurt again, so she fought the deep, blossoming attraction she felt for her lost sailor as well she could.

***

 They had been on the island for over seven weeks when it came to a head.

Poe sat next to her on the beach, and she felt his gaze more powerfully than ever. He had never acted on his obvious attraction to her (she was the only woman here, so she couldn’t say she was surprised), and he had never even mentioned it. But his stares grew longer, his wistfulness more apparent, and it stirred her heart in a way that threatened to overcome her very logic.

She felt rather than heard him open his mouth to say something, but he closed it just as soon, his throat clearing softly. The wind stirred her hair, loose around her shoulders, and untangled due to Poe’s patient unknotting of it, a daily routine he claimed to find soothing. Rey wouldn’t complain, not when his fingers in her hair felt so nice.

But now, she couldn’t ignore the pull of his gaze any longer.

“What is it you want from me?” Rey asked bluntly. looking up to stare at the night sky. The constellations welcomed her home, the stars she’d so often lost herself it.

“Want?” Poe’s voice was low and melodic, and she focused on it, how it wove in and out of the sound of waves crashing on the shore.

She licked her lips before responding. “All men want something. I learned that the hard way.” A tear fell from her eye and tracked a path to her jaw.

“You’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted.” It was a confession, resonant with honesty. Rey turned back towards him, where he reclined across from her. Poe’s eyes flickered in the firelight, the brown transformed to liquid gold, the effect otherworldly, and Rey inhaled sharply. She didn’t say anything in answer to it, and chose to give him time to continue.

“I – much of my life has been…joyous. Fleetingly so, but, I sought my pleasure and I found it. Since my adolescence, things have come to me, before I even had time to desire them. If it crossed my mind, I did it. I held nothing back. But you…” Poe bit his lip.

“Me?” Rey whispered, when he stopped speaking.

“You are something else entirely,” he said, staring into the fire. “It is an inevitability, the way I am drawn to you. And if you would allow me – I would very much like to…”

“To what?” Rey asked, crossing her thin arms over her chest.

“To care for you,” Poe said quietly, the words punctuated by the crackle of flame. “That is what I want. I want to care for you.”

When he turned and met her gaze steadily, she saw nothing but the truth in his golden eyes.

***

After Poe’s confession, Rey found herself tripping over her feet in front of him whenever he caught her staring at him. He hadn’t pushed for anything after that conversation, merely smiled at her and bade her goodnight before rising and going to his pallet, across the fire from her own.

They had been on the island for eight weeks when Rey couldn’t stand it anymore.

He lay down for the evening, his woven blanket of fronds not yet pulled over his form, when Rey stood, brushed her knees off, and prayed to the gods for courage.

She crossed the camp site and kneeled down at the edge of his pallet. Poe stared up at her in shock, and Rey gestured to the space next to him. He wiggled to the side immediately, a heady look in his eyes, illuminated by the firelight. Rey lay down on her side to face him, and rested her head on the meat above his elbow. Their faces were now but a foot and a half apart.

Rey didn’t speak still, and Poe brought his hand to hover over her bare arm. Rey nodded, giving him permission, and then he rested his palm on her skin. She shivered from the energy that seemed to flow from the contact, inexplicable and invigorating.  

“May I say something?” He asked, ever polite.

“You may,” she granted, a tilt of her head to indicate a gracious bow. It made him smile, and it warmed her to her toes. She couldn’t fight this any longer – she wondered how she ever thought she could.

“I know our time together has been short,” Poe said, shuffling closer to her on his side. Rey tilted into it, seeking his warmth. “But these past few weeks have caused me more happiness than the entirety of my life prior.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re glad you don’t have to be alone,” Rey teased, her tongue sticking out slightly like a child.

“Don’t say that.” Poe’s hand stilled on her arm, and Rey rushed to apologize. “No – I just despair to think you would believe that of me. I mean what I say.”

“I believe you.” She did. She didn’t know why, but she did.

“When I found you that first night, when I heard you crying in the darkness. It broke my heart.” He laughed softly and said, as if to himself, “If I truly have one.”

“Of course you do,” Rey said firmly. She pressed her hand to his chest, thrilling in the heat of his body fully.

Poe took her hand up to his mouth, kissing her knuckles one by one. Her breath caught between her teeth, and Poe stared up at her in wonder.

“I have been thinking,” Rey said softly. “That would like to … know you better.”

“Oh?” Poe’s smile was shy. Rey wondered if he had known lovers before, but then looked at his near-perfect form and snorted. Of course he had.

“I would,” she insisted. Poe’s gaze shifted into something darker, and his hand resumed stroking along her side, dropping low, to her hip, and she felt the urge to groan at its pleasantness.

 “It’s just - I’ve never known a man,” Rey confessed when his hand stole to the edge of her tunic. She blushed at the sight of his lust-addled eyes, still golden in the firelight.

“Never?” Poe said, freezing in his movement, staring at her in surprise. “But – when I found you –“

“Ben of Athens hurt me, yes,” Rey agreed. She nuzzled in further to Poe’s arm, which still bore the weight of her head. She reveled in the smoothness of his skin, the sinew of his muscle. “But he did not take that from me. He promised me many things when I saved him from the labyrinth, and I foolishly assumed he meant it. While on our journey, I refused his advances. I assume that was why he left me here to die.”

Poe made an angry noise, and it was though the air itself crackled. The stormy expression promised more rage than Rey had ever seen on his face, other than the moment she’d confessed to him that Ben had abandoned her after promising to marry her. “No,” Rey breathed, feeling bold enough to press a kiss into his skin. He tasted of green things, and oddly enough, of fine wine. “No, do not be angry. If he had not left me – we would not have met.”

“You stole my heart from the very first night,” Poe said, the anger gone from his handsome face. In its place was worship. “You must know, Rey of Crete. You bewitched me with your beauty, but when I came to know your mind, and your heart.” His fingers trailed along her collarbone, dipping down briefly to tease at the skin above her breast. “Your good, good heart…I have loved you almost from our first meeting.”

Poe spoke the words with a fragility Rey had not come to expect from men. On his neck glinted the ring of his mother, and Rey, with a burst of clarity, envisioned that ring on her own finger. She wanted it. She wanted –

“I love you, Poe.” She let him draw her in closer, his breath blowing across her mouth sweetly as they neared. “I love you entirely, and I would gladly spend my days on this island with you.”

“I want more than just days,” Poe said vehemently, his hands more present on her hips. “I want lifetimes, eras, eons with you.”

“I would give them to you,” Rey insisted, grabbing at the coarse fabric of his chiton, trying to pull him near. “I would give you everything.”

“I don’t need everything.” He ducked his head in, his hand coming to rest on her cheek. “I only need you, if you would promise to be mine.”

“I promise, then,” Rey covered his hand with her own, her heartbeat indistinguishable from his own, from the rhythm of the ocean hundreds of yards away. “I am yours.”

His mouth found hers in the increasing dark, the dying embers of their fire dwindling continually. Poe made a soft noise against her, a noise that was almost grieved, and she dragged herself across the blanket beneath them, drawing up against his body. They traded kisses, the drag of his lips over hers drawing a whine from her throat more than once, her hand coming to thread through his hair, scratching at his scalp lightly, a motion he appeared to greatly approve of. She cared not for propriety or her own virtue – she chose him, after all, this man, who might as well be the only man she would ever see again. But, that wasn’t fair – he needed to know –

“Even if we were not condemned to this island,” Rey said, panting for breath when he released her to press kisses into her neck, drawing delirious moans from her between her words – “Even if – _gods,_ Poe – even if I could meet every man on this earth – I would choose you every time.”

“Do you mean that?” Poe said, breaking from his task of covering her skin with his kisses. Rey shivered in the night air, the cool wind dragging against the skin roughened by his stubble. “Do you truly mean it?”

“Yes,” Rey said, trying to pull him near again. “Yes, I swear it, I swear it on the Styx, I would love only you.”

“My Sunbeam,” Poe’s breath sounded almost like sobs. He shook his head as he rolled over her, balancing his weight on his hands. “My Rey, my sweet, perfect Rey. I have never done anything to deserve you.”

She smiled teasingly at him, hoping it was coy and alluring, the way she had seen women of the court smile. “I know.” Poe laughed at her cheek, and kissed her deliciously soft, a warm ember in her stomach igniting as his hands traced patterns she prayed he knew how to replicate over her bare skin.

Feeling bold, she wrapped her legs around his waist  without warning, causing him to hiss and choke a curse in the ancient language. Their lips crashed together once more, Poe’s weight now cradled by her hips, an action she followed instinctively.

“Tell me to stop,” Poe begged as their hips rocked together in a dance she’d never learned but was fulfilling all the same. “Tell me to stop, and I will.”

“I won’t ask you to,” Rey laughed shakily, chasing the feeling as the hardness barely hidden by his chiton brushed against her. Her own tunic had ridden up by this point, leaving most of her thighs bare and ready to be explored.

Poe huffed a laugh and took a moment to study her carefully. She tried not to squirm under his gaze. “I won’t hurt you,” he swore, hand stroking her side. It trailed back up, along her neck, and then stopped at her jaw. Rey trembled and smiled at him, and his thumb caught on her bottom lip.

“I don’t think you could hurt me,” Rey said shyly. “Not after – all we’ve shared. If you wanted to hurt me, you would have already.”

Poe pressed a kiss to her collarbone, starting to drag the top of her shift over, exposing more skin for him to bite and tease with his tongue. Rey gasped and dug her fingers into his broad shoulders.

“Thank you for trusting me,” he said hoarsely, pulling his head back to examine her. Something like fear glinted in his eyes. “But – I meant hurt as in … physically.”

“I know it often hurts the first time you lay with a man,” Rey said, laughing at his odd fear of this. “I am not _that_ naïve. It is natural. Do not apologize for how our bodies work.”

“That is not what I mean,” Poe whispered, but when she asked him to repeat it, he returned to kissing her. Soon his chiton was removed, pulled over his head through their combined effort, and cast aside, hitting the sand with a gentle noise. Rey scrambled to tug at the hem of her own undergarment, but Poe gripped her wrist. “It is not too late,” he said, closing his eyes as though the idea caused him pain. “We can stop.”

“Do you want to?” Rey asked, aware that maybe he didn’t want this, an idea that stabbed her pride but not her decency.

“I want this more than I’ve ever wanted anything,” Poe growled, ducking down to nip at her earlobe. He ground his hips into hers as though providing the evidence of that want, and Rey mewled, tilting her hips up to chase the hardness of his cock, now exposed to the air and her own explorations – if only he would release her wrist – “You possess me, you control me, I live for you, I would die for you—”

“Then fuck me,” Rey said, impatient from her own lust. “Please, please, just—”

With another growl that seemed impossible for a man to make, Poe released his hold on her and sat up, dragging her with him. He removed her chiton, still gentle despite the raging desire largely writ in his eyes, and she lifted her arms to assist. Her breasts were now exposed to him, as was her sex, and her nipples pebbled in the night air.

“Can I?”

“I’m yours, remember?” Rey said, both shy and bold, and Poe released a strangled cry, diving down to mouth at her breasts, his tongue laving over her nipples. She nearly shrieked with the pleasure that cut through her navel, her body’s natural reaction to spread her legs further and lie back taking over. She chanted his name while pulling at his hair, and they navigated back to the ground.

Poe’s fingers worked deftly along her thatch of curls, and he kissed her deeply as a thick finger parted her lower lips. “You are so wet, my love,” he moaned. “There has never been another as perfect as you.”

“You don’t need to compliment me any further,” Rey laughed nervously, her hand tripping down his abdomen to fumble much more clumsily with Poe’s cock. He groaned when she rolled her hand down the length, and Rey marveled at the reddened tip that emerged from its hiding place. “I already said yes.”

“You must always say yes,” Poe said sternly, his fingers leaving her sex quickly to grasp her wrist. Rey shuddered to feel the evidence of her desire on his skin. “Always. Each time, the whole time, do you understand me?”

“Yes?” Rey cocked her head at him and surged up to try to kiss him, in an attempt to placate him and the thunderous look that had crossed his face. Rey _understood,_ she had been prepared by the ladies of the court, she had been taught that she would be subject to a man’s whims in the throes of passion, their inner beasts emerging. “Poe, you are – you are a good man, but I understand what transpires in a carnal act. If you give in to the madness of man’s lust—”

“That is a _lie_.” Poe swore, a low and filthy oath that Rey blushed from. She looked skyward anxiously, praying that the gods hadn’t heard what he’d muttered. “Sunbeam, my love, you have been taught a lie. Nothing excuses man’s cruelty. Nothing. This gift you share with me,” he kissed the hand he still held and lowered it to the blanket behind her head. “I treasure it, but it is a gift you may withhold without fearing _anything._ Do you understand me?”

Rey nodded, her voice lost, her eyes swimming with tears. The love in Poe’s eyes was fierce, consuming, and almost too bright to look at. He still didn’t move, so she answered aloud, forcing herself to speak the words. “I understand, Poe. I do. I want this, and I want you – let us share this, please.”

He surrendered with a groan, and his next movement brought his cock in contact with her sex. “Your cunt,” he murmured, and Rey squeaked at the rough word. “It feels better than all the heavens.” He kissed down the planes of her stomach, pushing backwards on his hands so he was kneeling between her legs, his head bowed to her body as his mouth worked over her. “Your skin tastes like starlight,” he whispered, sweeping his tongue around her hipbone. Rey clawed at the ground before grabbing at his shoulders, her body writhing involuntarily.

His hands returned to her hips, and he gripped tightly, lowering himself onto his stomach so his shoulders pushed her legs apart. “Let me taste you,” he begged, dragging his stubble along the inside of her thigh. “Please, love, let me drink from you.”

“Yes,” Rey shivered, her body transported to another plane from his ministrations. It was incomprehensible, the depth she felt … and then he lowered his mouth to her sex and dragged his tongue along its length.

If Rey thought she understood pleasure before, she soon learned the error of her belief. This was everything, the skill with which he sucked, and licked, and kissed her, leaving her body trembling but begging for more. Starbursts exploded behind her eyes, and Rey threw her head back, body arching, hands scrambling for purchase as she writhed against the blanket. She realized she had been crying Poe’s name as she came down from it, and Poe was whispering words against her cunt.

“…sweeter than ambrosia,” he whispered, his fingers now working at her entrance, spreading her open, working her through the final spasms of her climax. “I swear it, Rey, you are better than any wine, any nectar—”

“Make love to me,” Rey commanded, ignoring the needy edge to her voice. “I must have you.”

“You must?” Poe teased, already slipping his fingers free and climbing up her body once more. He dragged his torso along hers, and she shuddered as he brushed over her nipples, oversensitive from her previous pleasure. “I must have you as well, I suppose.”

Once he was positioned at her entrance, and Rey was breathing steadily again, Poe’s weight now familiar and comforting over her, his warmth so pleasant in the cool night air, he kissed her, and she shook from the taste of herself on his lips. “We can stop here,” he said earnestly. “Say it, and we stop, and I will not begrudge you anything.”

In answer, Rey wrapped her legs around his waist, her feet locking together behind his firm buttocks, and she pulled him down. He slipped in with a swear, and then he began to chant something that sounded like an incantation. Rey focused, remembering her lessons of antiquated language, and she stroked his face soothingly when she realized what it was – a prayer.

“Why do you pray for strength?” Rey asked, rolling her hips experimentally around the head of his cock, which was notched in her body.

“I pray for the strength to love you correctly,” Poe said, laughing and averting his eyes. He squeezed them shut for a moment. “I pray for the strength to maintain my sanity, and my – myself, so that I will not hurt you.”

“Do not be afraid,” Rey urged him. Where was this concern coming from? Surely he understood that virginity was rarely pleasant to lose. “I trust you.” Poe nodded, opening his beautiful eyes once more, and his hips surged forward. Rey’s body opened to the intrusion, and soon he was seated fully inside her, their hips flush once more.

“Oh,” Rey gasped at the feeling of fullness. “ _Oh._ ” It felt so strangely right, to have Poe inside her in this way. “Poe.”

“Are you alright?” He begged, voice strained. “Rey, have I hurt you?”

“Not at all,” Rey laughed and cupped one hand around his cheek, her thumb stroking back and forth, passing his mouth each time. He turned his head and kissed her thumb once, and she watched a bead of sweat form at his hairline. “This feels…good. A little uncomfortable, but would you… could you move?”

Poe nodded and pulled his hips back, and Rey moaned at the drag of his cock in her body. “Yes,” she hissed, hands wrapping around his back as well. Poe pushed his hips back in, just as slowly, and she felt something throb inside her at the sensation. Rey held him as closely as possible, now fully wrapped around him, and she kissed and bit what she could of his collarbone. “Don’t be afraid,” she said, nuzzling the soft hair of his chest. “You won’t hurt me. Move, Poe. Just move.”

“Rey.” He breathed it softly, and she felt his body bend to a position more suited to thrusting into and out of her, and he picked up pace, rocking over her as steadily as any wave. And then, reverently, “I love you.” It was with equal reverence that he moved, and Rey knew what he said was true.

“I love you so much,” she said, hardly understanding where the emotion had come from, but it matched the fire in her belly quite well.

The pace became almost unbearable, and her body shifted up on the blanket with every other thrust. Rey surrendered to the carnal passion, tossing her head back and crying aloud. There was no one to hear her on this island, no one but Poe, and he was inspired by her cries, encouraged, meeting them with shouts of his own, and soon his pace staggered, and he spent himself inside of her.

Rey felt the heat surge inside her body, and remembered that without the herbs given by an apothecary, she had no way of knowing if she would bear a child from this union. She shook her head against the thought and turned her focus to kissing the side of Poe’s neck. His face was buried in the blanket next to her head, and more of his weight than ever was draped across her.

“That was wonderful,” she sighed, feeling sleepy and heavy now that it was over.

“That was everything,” Poe corrected. He pulled out of her, an uncomfortable drag on her sore sex, and she whimpered softly at the feeling. “I love you.” He kissed her again. “Thank you for trusting me, I love you so much, my brave Rey, my sweet princess.”

Rey smiled at him drowsily, her eyes slipping shut. “I love you too,” she yawned, and he laughed gently, pulling her into his arms. “Sorry, I don’t know why I’m so,” she yawned again.

“It is natural,” Poe assured her, kissing her hair. “Sleep, my love. Rest your eyes.” Rey nodded, drifting off fully now.

Something nagged at the corner of her consciousness, and she grabbed a hold of it as though it were a ball of thread that could lead her back to the light – but it slipped away before she could realize it fully.

***

When Rey woke, she was alone.

The embers had fully died, and the sun had just risen, an orange beacon with hints of pink and purple across the sea. She frowned, rubbing her eyes, and pushed herself upright, hissing at the soreness between her legs. Rey looked around, searching for Poe.

Nothing.

His chiton had been collected, as had his waterskin and sandals. “Poe?” Rey called out, searching backwards into the wooded part of the island. “Are you there?”

Dawn was an odd time to hunt, but she told herself that was surely where he was. She shivered and looked down, surprised to see that she was wearing her chiton once more. How Poe had dressed her without waking her was…beyond her understanding.

Rey stood shakily, her legs somewhat wobbling from last night’s strain, and she smiled. The smile was not untinged by nerves, and she squinted down the length of the beach, and then the other.

Nothing.

“Poe?” Rey shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. She huffed and grabbed her walking stick and a waterskin, and trudged off into the forest. “Idiot,” she muttered. “Couldn’t wait for me to wake up to go hunting.” She spoke to allay the nerves in her stomach. It just… it felt too similar to the morning she woke up to find Ben and his ship missing. She walked through the grove of trees quickly, casting her sight this way and that, but the only sign of life were the birds and small creatures that roamed the island.

“Poe?”

She reached the other side of the island before mid-day, but found this stretch of beach to be equally deserted. Rey walked along the shore for a time, the sun rising on the horizon – she grabbed a frond of palm at one point to hold over her head and hold off the worst of the rays. Her skin was already tanned, and freckling, but she wanted to avoid sunsickness if she could. She drank from her waterskin sparingly, but ran out in the mid-afternoon. There was some back at camp, but she had never found out from Poe where the fresh water source was on the island.

A foolish decision, she realized now.

 _Where is he?_ She thought, whispering it a moment later. “Poe.” She didn’t say it loudly, more imploringly.

Rey reached her campsite once more by nightfall. The fire had not been re-started, and there was no sign of her ship wrecked sailor.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen any sign of a wreck, either.

“No.” Rey shook her head, trembling. “No, no, no…”

Madness was not uncommon in isolation. She understood this. The few who had survived her father’s maze, stumbling out weeks later, were crazed, mad, insane. They were beyond help.

By her count, she had been on this island for almost two months.

Had she been alone all this time? Had her mind invented Poe to stave off loneliness?

She remembered then, what her mind had fought to tell her the previous night before she fell asleep, the thought that had nagged her after Poe kissed her goodnight. He had called her _princess._ But she had never told him of her heritage.

Rey fell to her knees and wept, her hand covering her mouth, her arm clutching her stomach. “I didn’t,” she choked out. “I didn’t – he’s real, he was _real_.” She curled up on herself, on the blanket that she still swore smelled of green things and wine, and fell into a fitful slumber, exhausted from her day of exploration.

***

The next morning, she arose before Helios had brought his chariot across the sky. Rey realized she was still alone, and she wiped a tear from her eye, scolding herself for wasting even that much water. She needed to find the water – if she had invented Poe, as she thought she had, then she needed to –

Rey had risen from her pallet, but she shrieked when she turned towards the tree line. She dove for her spear, and grasped it in her hand, pointing it at the man sitting calmly on the same clump of driftwood she had first seen Poe sitting on.

“Who are you?” She demanded. “What do you want?”

“I wanted to meet you.” His voice rumbled out smoothly, and Rey’s grip on her spear tightened. She gave him a hard look; she realized he was handsome, in an almost terrifying way. His beard was thick and full, graying at the edges, and at the sides. His skin was paler than she would expect here on an island, and his tunic was made of silk that sparkled in the… well, not light. The sun hadn’t risen yet. That couldn’t be right. Rey blinked to clear her eyes and squinted at him. His smile was open, and a little off-putting, and Rey swore, throwing her spear down and falling to her knee.

She bowed her head and prayed furiously, refusing to look up.

“Do you recognize me, child?”

“Yes,” Rey said quietly, wincing at the sound of her own voice. “Yes, you are … the lord of Olympus. I dare not speak your name without your permission.”

“You may call me my name,” he laughed. “And you may stand. I’d much rather look at your face when we speak.”

Rey stumbled to her feet and tried to look at him, but found she couldn’t. She bit her lip anxiously and stared at the ground, unable to raise her eyes. “What have I done to warrant a visit from Zeus?” She asked carefully.

Rey knew the stories. She knew what Zeus often wanted from young women.

“Ah,” Zeus laughed gently. “You need not worry about me, my child. Not when you have stolen the heart of one of my most beloved sons. My dimetor.”

“Dimetor?” Rey blinked slowly and finally lifted her eyes to meet his. They were stormy, blue and bright but also clouded by something ancient and fearsome. _Dimetor_ , twice-born. Who did she know that had been twice born? Perhaps one of the souls she counseled before their lives were lost to the labyrinth. Her father had a penchant for punishing heroes. “I don’t know what you mean, my lord.”

“My son,” Zeus said, his smile lessening somewhat. It made him look kinder, oddly. “He has decided to…sponsor you. Talked my ear off about you. I figured I would pay a visit.”

“Oh.” Rey quirked her brow, not fully understanding. “I thank him for his patronage.” She said it like a question, something Zeus surely didn’t miss, in his ancient wisdom. Rey pursed her mouth and looked out towards the sea. “He must be responsible for my continued life,” she said after a pause. “Truly, I was sure I would be dead by now.”

“Indeed.” Zeus’s laugh sounded like thunder, and she let it wash over her, refusing to betray the fear it instilled in her heart. When she looked back at him, he considered her thoughtfully, and she tilted her chin up proudly, remembering her father’s lessons about _pride_ and _dignity._ Once his examination was complete, he tilted his head and frowned. “You are alone now, I wager.”

“Yes.” Rey decided not to lie. “There was another, but he…” She trailed off, the pain unbearable.

“He is gone?” Zeus prodded, and Rey nodded, throat too tight to speak. “Ah. I see. Dead, I imagine?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered, hating how her voice threatened to wobble and break. “He vanished from my side, I have not seen him for over a day.”

“You miss him?” Zeus asked, and Rey nodded once more, praying for clarity of why he wanted to have this conversation with her, a mere mortal.

“I love him,” she said honestly. “I love him, and I wish I knew why he had left, or if he were even real.”

“You must be angered, to think that he might have left you,” Zeus pointed out. “Perhaps a ship came in the night and offered him passage.”

“He would have woken me,” Rey said hotly, her anger flashing dangerously. She ignored her instinct to control herself. “Poe would have brought me with him. He wouldn’t leave me. He wouldn’t.”

“Poe?” Zeus raised his eyebrows, and chuckled to himself. “Is that what he said?”

“Why does my lord laugh?” Rey asked. “Poe was the man who passed two months’ time with me on this prison.”

“Alright, then.” He seemed impossibly amused by her declaration, and she had to force down a biting remark. “Oh, you have a spark inside you. I like that. My wife wouldn’t.” He rubbed his beard and laughed again, standing up from his perch. Rey quaked at his full height – over six feet, and massive. _This isn’t even his true form,_ she remembered. _I would perish if he stood in his true form._

“You would,” Zeus noted, and Rey balked at the knowledge that he could read her thoughts. “If any god stood before you in his or her true form, in your mortal state, you would die. Something that I hope my son is aware of.” Rey tilted her head, and wondered why he would say such a thing. “As I said, my child, my dimetor is very taken with you. Take my hand, and I’ll take you to him.”

A broad, golden-toned hand reached out towards her, and Rey considered it. “Is that an offer, or an order?” She asked curiously, which caused the god to laugh again.

“An offer, brave princess of Crete.” He smirked, his eyes twinkling. “You can refuse me without fear for your safety. I ask on behalf of my son, who loves you from afar. He wishes to take you for his bride. You would want for nothing, fear nothing, and join us on Mount Olympus for the rest of time.”

 _How could a man I’ve never met want me?_ Rey wondered. _Especially if my mind really is slipping._

Still, having been abandoned twice in two months, having spent a lifetime quaking in fear from her father’s abusive madness, having sought nothing but freedom since she could walk – the idea of security and a god’s love was so _damned_ tempting. She stared at Zeus’ hand, unwavering, still in the space between them, and she considered his offer. A god’s love…immortality…safety… But.

“I can’t,” Rey said, her voice breaking. “I can’t accept your offer, my lord. I’m so sorry. I do not reject you lightly, for I know you honor me deeply, as does your son. I wish him happiness, but it will not be with me.”

“May I ask why?” Zeus retracted his hand and stared at her as though seeing her for the first time.

She hadn’t been incinerated yet, so she counted her blessings. “I love another,” she said truthfully. “I know your son would treat me well, and an eternity as part of your noble house would be a blessing I have done nothing to earn. But my heart belongs to the man I told you of, the man who disappeared.” She looked down the beach, turned purple-pink by the rising sun. “He might return, you see, and I will wait for him.”

“What if he never returns?” Zeus asked, not unkindly. “What if you perish here, an island that might as well be Nowhere, waiting for someone who is gone?”

“I will wait as long as I have to,” Rey said solemnly. “He would do the same for me. I know it.” He had _promised_ her. Whispers of forever in her ear while he rocked into her – Rey blushed to think of it in front of a god.

“You really love him, then,” Zeus said. “This Poe.”

“More than anything.” She answered. “Thank you for your visit, and your offer, my lord. If you have need for me in the future, you will find me a most humble servant.” She bowed the way she was taught, deep, low, reverent.

Zeus bowed back, only slightly mocking in the gesture, before straightening up. “Farewell, Rey of Crete, and of Nowhere. You are truly worthy of the love of my son.”

“What do you mean?” Rey asked, but then a sharp wind from the west tumbled forward, spinning her. She fell to her knees, coughing at the sand that filled her mouth, kicked up by the heavy breeze. A flash of light filled her vision, and a crackle of heat ran up her spine.

When she turned, shielding her eyes with her hand, Zeus was gone.

She felt weak in the knees, clearly overwhelmed by her proximity to a god for so long. She coughed weakly, and rubbed her throat, her hand shaking from her prolonged fear.

The breeze returned, more normal this time, and with it trickled the scent of greenery and wine. Rey pivoted in the direction of the wind, and stared, shocked, at the shore.

Poe stood in the surf, backlit by the rising sun. His curls were tossed by the sea breeze, and he was barefoot, his chiton short and hidden by a beautiful chlamys, woven of finer silk than she had ever seen in the palace. Purple and green dappled through the fabric, and Rey’s breath caught at how lovely he was, his tan skin more golden than ever, his brown eyes warm and wistful as he stared at her.

“Are you real?” She demanded, her feet carrying her forward of their own volition. “Are you a vision, a mirage?”

“I am real.” Poe walked forward out of the sea, and up the shore. The sun heightened with each of his steps, and soon he stood in front of her. “And I am so sorry that I left you.”

“You came back,” Rey said weakly. “He said you might not, but you’re _here._ ”

“That old bat,” Poe muttered darkly, glaring at the sky. Rey stumbled back slightly and stared at him in shock. “What?”

“Poe, that’s _Zeus,_ ” she whispered, casting her eyes around. “He could smite you for such a thing.”

“He knows what he is,” Poe said, tossing his head back. “Isn’t that right, old man?” Lightning cracked across the clear sky, the rumble of thunder immediate. Rey clapped a hand to her mouth, but Poe just laughed wildly. “He doesn’t really mind. He wouldn’t bother smiting me anyway, not when you’re standing next to me. He likes you a lot.”

“He—” Pieces fell together in Rey’s mind, and she stepped away from him, shaking her head. “No – n-no, what are you talking about? How do you have such knowledge of Zeus?”

“He’s my father,” Poe said simply, shrugging. His eyes looked guilty though, and he gazed at her sadly. “I apologize for not telling you sooner.”

“You lied to me?” Rey said, louder this time. “You’ve been lying this whole time?”

Poe reached out imploringly, and Rey didn’t walk forward into his arms, though her heart begged her to. “You met me as a man, my sunbeam, and I wanted you to know me as a man. I didn’t want you to fear me, or to love me because you thought you had to.” She turned and walked up towards the tree line, not stopping until her sandals met with grass. Poe followed her, and she spun on her heel to jab a finger at him. His hands were still raised, reaching out to her.

“You didn’t even tell me your name,” Rey accused angrily. “What kind of name is Poe, anyway? Where did you come up with it?”

“Everything I told you was true,” Poe said, lowering his hands to his side in defeat. “Including the name _Poe._ The nymphs who raised me called me that, as it was my first word. My mother really was killed by accident, when she asked to see my father in his true form. It is why I struggled so much with self control in your presence. I wouldn’t be able to continue on if I did to you what my father did to my mother. Zeus struggles with that grief to this day.”

Rey recalled the stories taught to her as a child, and it dawned on her what he was telling her. “You’re – _dimetor_ …that means…” She stared at him and stepped forward. “Tell me your true name,” she demanded. “I want to hear you say it.”

“Dionysus.” A thrum of power spread out from him, a golden wave that rushed along the grass. Poe tapped his foot once, and another beam spread out, the grass growing wild and tangled around them as it rippled through the trees. Vines sprung up in its wake, heavy with grapes that bloomed and burst with a vivacity Rey had only ever dreamed of.

“It’s so green,” she breathed, wonder replacing her indignation for the time being. “Oh, it’s _beautiful_.”

“Thank you,” his warm, soothing voice answered. She looked at him again, and saw that his eyes still bore his previous sadness. “Thank you, but believe me. It means nothing without you.”

“Why didn’t you think I could love you if I knew the truth?” Rey asked. “Do you think so little of me?” Her voice cracked painfully, and Poe was already shaking his head by the end, his black curls flying with the movement.

“No,” he said adamantly. “I think the galaxy of you, my love. You were so fragile when we met, so hurt. I didn’t want to take advantage, but I couldn’t bear to stay away from you. I wanted to come to you as your equal, so you would know _me,_ and not think of me with the lens of mortals’ stories.”

“Were you lying when you said you loved me?” She had to know.

“No. I have lived for thousands of years, my sunbeam. I have never loved another the way I love you.” He bowed his head, and he seemed to shrink, the golden tone ebbing from his skin, until he appeared more man-like than ever. “My father did not lie, either. I wanted you as my bride.”

Rey took a deep, shuddering breath, willing her heart to calm. “Wanted?” She repeated. “As in – only before.”

“I want,” Poe corrected, and the life snapped back into him, his brown eyes flashing up to meet hers. “I want, I _want._ ”

“And if I were to accept you?” Rey asked carefully. Hope filled his face, a heartbreakingly lovely expression. “If I were to accept your offer, and be your bride.”

“I would make sure you were nothing but happy for the rest of time,” Poe said quickly. “You would become immortal, and be accepted at my side amongst the gods. I would live and breathe for you, and I would love you undyingly.”

“I only care about the last part,” Rey pointed out. “I would only ask that you love me.”

“Let me give you everything,” Poe begged, reaching out once more. “Or have you changed your mind already, from what you told my father. Do you no longer love me, more than anything?”

Rey stepped into his arms, her heart feeling full, threatening to burst, and when Poe laughed shakily, tears in his eyes for the first time since they had met, she kissed him softly. “I love you,” she said. “Dionysus, Poe, whatever you may call yourself – I am yours, and you are mine.”

“Then let us never be parted,” Poe murmured, clasping her hand in his and bringing it to his mouth. He kissed her fingers and then rested his forehead on hers. “I never want to leave your side again.”

And so, he didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (guess how many more damerey greek myth aus i have outlined. guess.)
> 
>  
> 
> shoutout to beccaboom who read some of this and gave me the title!!! <3


	2. Wedding Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Rey spend their first day together as husband and wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy sinful sunday!!!

Rey gazed across the clearing, to the table where the men sat. Not men, not really – satyrs and lesser gods, some divine spirits made flesh for the evening’s festivity – a feast in her honor. She would eat with the nymphs that had attended her during her preparation once the men had finished their fill.

Poe sat in the middle of the boisterous crowd, his cheeks growing ruddier as he laughed with the gathered beings. Flowers were woven throughout his thick, black curls, and Rey rather admired the effect from her position. She turned her head when she heard a giggle to her left.

A beautiful nymph was poking her in the leg. Rose was her name, Rose, partner of Finn, Poe’s most beloved and trusted companion, a woodland spirit with some joyful power Rey had only begun to see. “Your husband is a very handsome man,” Rose said teasingly, and Rey nodded, smiling fondly at him.

“He truly is.” Her voice was soft, hushed, as she was still dwelling on the days that stretched behind her that had led her here – her abandonment, her days on the island with Poe, discovering his true nature, their blissful happiness since, and of course, the last few days of nuptial preparation which had tested her patience as she’d been separated from her love for the longest period of time since she had met him – but it did not matter. Although dozens of meters separated them, Poe looked up at the sound of her voice, his eyes liquid gold and hazy in the flickering torchlight of the clearing.

“Please,” he said, gesturing to the table. “Join us, ladies.” Rey rose to her feet, a nymph holding either hand, and descended the steps. The cool, late autumn air brushed against her neck and upper back – Persephone had returned to Hades’s side, then, and the earth was left to sleep in her absence – and she shivered, not used to the feeling of wind on the delicate skin. Her hair had been cut to an inch above her shoulders, to signify her transition from girl to woman, and the locks had been left in tribute to Aphrodite and Artemis as part of that ritual.

“ _My sisters are very strange,_ ” Poe had said, shrugging, when she asked him about it. “ _As far as I can tell, they never actually…do anything…with all that hair. All the same, if you do not mind the loss of it, we should follow tradition. They can be quite tricky, those two. Besides, Artie tells me she’d always had her eye on you to join her hunt…so best to please her now, if we can._ ”  Rey certainly had not minded – her hair had always been a burden for her, needing to be twisted into plaits or done up into multiple buns, or tucked under scarves, and she felt significantly lighter in its absence.

Poe’s eyes had darkened when he’d seen her during the ceremony, and his breath had caught in his throat entirely when he had lifted her veil to complete the _anakalupteria_. There had been no exchange of dowry, no father handing her over – Zeus himself had appeared to take her hand as she walked towards her groom (an honor she still trembled from) – and they were doing some steps in an unorthodox manner. But now, she had been asked to join her husband in the feast, and she settled near him, at the low table.

“Are you comfortable, my sunbeam?” Poe leaned forward to murmur in her ear, and she shivered again, deliciously this time, from his hot breath in her ear.

“Yes, my lord,” she murmured. Poe’s forefinger slipped under her chin, and he turned her to face him. She was leaning against his legs, and his cushion sat a little higher than her own, but he looked suddenly very sad.

“Please,” he whispered. “Why do you call me that?”

“For you are my husband,” Rey answered, blushing. “So you are my lord.” She understood this, had _trained_ for it for years as the princess of Crete. Rey had always known she would be sold to the highest bidder, but she had found herself bound to a god instead, and a kind one at that, one who would not hurt her or belittle her. Yes, she was happy with this lot.

“No,” Poe shook his head and brushed a kiss over her cheekbone. It was highly intimate, and private, and Rey fretted the others seeing. “No, we shall be equals, my darling. I received a wife today, not a servant.”

Rey nodded, apprehension pooling in her stomach – another thing to grow used to at her husband’s side, she realized. Poe and his odd ways – Dionysus to everyone else, but Poe to her, sweet, darling, loving, kind Poe. So many things to grow used to.

“Are you hungry?” His voice was again in her ear, and Rey nodded, leaning against his legs once more, and facing out towards the table. Before she could reach to a plate, Poe’s hand darted out and grabbed a platter already filled with cheese, olives, and bread. “Allow me,” he said softly. He balanced the plate on his leg and offered her an olive, holding the small item in front of her mouth. Rey accepted it, cheeks heated almost beyond tolerance from the intimacy of the action – no one at the table seemed to pay them any mind, already too involved in their own revelry to watch the newlyweds.

“Tonight,” Poe’s voice was husky now, even as he held a cup of wine to her mouth. “I shall serve you. My queen.” Rey jolted as lust curled in her stomach, and Poe’s laugh was dark and alluring. “Would you like to start now?”

“In front of our guests?” Rey gasped. She was mildly surprised that the idea was not…entirely off-putting. Interesting. “What a scandal that would be.”

“Scandal?” Poe’s mouth found the sensitive spot under her ear, and his lips worked at it for a moment. Rey writhed, trying to keep still and not succeeding. “A husband loving his wife would hardly be the most _scandalous_ thing they’d ever witnessed.” His lips trailed to her shoulder, and he nosed aside the top of her chiton, his mouth sucking on the freckled skin. “Especially when I’m their god.” He released her with an obscene smack, and Rey felt faint with lust. Poe had the gall to sound as though this were a casual conversation, and Rey found her hips starting to rotate, seeking pressure, friction, anything, as his tongue laved over the spot he’d clearly made with his mouth. “They simply are not allowed to tell me I’m causing a scandal, certainly not on my wedding night.”

The way he referred to their wedding with such casual seduction, as he worked over such an innocuous part of her body, had Rey panting slightly. “Poe, please,” she whispered, almost mortified in a way she definitely did not despise as much as she should. “Not – not here?”

He stopped immediately and pressed a chaste kiss into her cheek. “Of course not,” he said easily, his tone more normal now. “Later, my love.” She felt her mouth go dry at the promise of _later,_ but her husband returned to feeding her slowly from the items he had gathered for her.

As the party wore on, and his guests grew increasingly boisterous and wild – some dancing naked in the clearing, others rolling in mock-fights on the ground, still more laughing at nothing at all – Poe became increasingly quiet. The moonlight shone down on the festivities, and Rey stared up at it in contemplation, wondering if Artemis could hear her.

She was not a virgin, not any longer (she and Poe had lain together for the first time on that island, and many times since), but she wondered if Artemis would still offer her guidance and protection as she transitioned into the mode of wife. She wondered if she had pleased Aphrodite with her offering, if the two goddesses would take mercy on their brother’s bride, and bless them with tranquility and peace in their union.

A sense of calm washed over her as Poe started to hum something quietly, his lovely voice obvious although he did not rely on words for his music. Rey swore she felt the grass, flowers, and trees of the forest turn to listen to him, and she herself unspooled in its wake. Although his song was calming for Rey and the rest of nature, the partygoers seemed to pick up in intensity, until all were dancing and reveling in the moonlight.

“I think they are distracted enough,” Poe commented. “Shall we?” It was an offer, a true offer. Rey knew her husband well enough to know she would always, always have a choice in this, something he was adamant about from the beginning. She nodded, voiceless once more, and took his hand as they both rose from the table. Poe ran an admiring hand along her neck and the top of her back, bared to the night air, and he leaned in slowly to press a kiss deeper and more passionate than the one he had given her after removing her veil. “I would like for us to walk into my home,” he said softly. “To complete the ceremony.” Rey nodded, still quiet, and smiled at him.

“Come,” he murmured, pulling her backwards into the trees. “Come home with me, my sunbeam.” Utterly entranced by his beauty and gentleness, Rey followed him as he blindly led her into the woods. His dark gold eyes never left her face, studying it hungrily, as they left the raucous, wild party behind them. It grew more peaceful, more quiet while they traveled into the heart of the forest.

“Do you have home here?” Rey asked, her voice hoarse from nerves and her silence of the last ten minutes of walking. Poe had turned around eventually, and led her, his hand behind his back as he pulled her along, somehow finding the steps and parts of the forest floor that offered her no injury or obstacle.

“My home is up ahead,” Poe answered. And there was a light there, where he pointed, silver and promising, and Rey felt their pace increase naturally. This would be the final step – once she crossed the threshold, they would be bound together for eternity – well, eternity once she accepted his father’s offer of immortality. Rey had wanted to enjoy her wedding as a mortal for reasons Poe called _sentimental_ and _endearing._

They reached the part of the trees where the silver shone through completely, almost as though there were a physical barrier. Rey peered curiously over Poe’s shoulder, and saw nothing but a beautiful clearing, a meadow really, with a stream, and some odd, otherworldly source of light that made it appear almost as bright as midday. It came from a tree, she realized, shocked. A gorgeous tree with a thousand threads of light running through its trunk, spreading its warmth and light throughout the clearing.

It was green, and gorgeous, and-

“Perfect,” Rey breathed, eyes wide. “Poe, it’s – it’s perfect.”

“I think so too.”  His smile was shy, and he tugged on her hand so they stood shoulder to shoulder. “Are you ready?”

“Always,” Rey whispered to him, smiling, distracted for a moment from the beauty of the meadow. “I am ready to be yours, Poe.”

“My sunbeam.” The joy in his voice bordered on anguish, and Rey took a step the same time he did, crossing the threshold to the place he called him, and they were then, most perfectly, husband and wife.

“My wife,” Poe said, the same thought in his eyes and heart. “Gods above, my beautiful wife.” He pressed his mouth to hers, pulling her into his arms. Rey was nearly faint from the power of her emotion. Each kiss caused her to grow more dizzy, more blissful, more _desperate_ for more Poe, more of him, always more—“I’m yours,” he murmured into her mouth, his lips then pressing into her cheek, her jaw, her neck with little finesse but full passion. “I am yours, Rey.”

“Show me,” Rey begged. “Show me that you are mine, and I am yours, make me yours—”

They tumbled to the grass, which was thicker and softer than any pillow Rey had ever encountered. The smell of spring prickled her nose even though it was almost winter, and she inhaled the flowery scent joyfully as Poe devoured her, running his tongue along her neck while fumbling with the fastenings of her outer dress. They rushed to remove each other’s clothing, and as he pulled away her final layer of underthings, she fell back against the pillowy grass, her body bare to her husband’s lustful gaze.

“Let us not bother with clothes tomorrow,” Rey said cheekily, and Poe grunted in agreement, reduced to silent admiration of her form, a knowledge that made her feel more powerful. He kneeled between her legs and stared openly at her, his cock already hard and leaking – when Rey dropped her gaze to it, she saw it twitch in anticipation, and she felt an answering pool of warmth form between her legs.

Feeling bold, she raised her foot and placed it on his shoulder. Poe wrapped a hand around her ankle and kissed her calf, his other hand tracing a path down her leg, along the inside of her thigh, and then, as always, the hesitation – “Yes,” Rey whispered, nodding. “Please touch me.” Poe’s finger tentatively caught some of her wetness and spread it, stroking a tantalizing rhythm along her clit, dizzying circles that had her singing soon enough.

“Poe,” she gasped. “Yes, yes – your mouth, please, your mouth.” She should feel ashamed, asking for that before he had offered, but Poe groaned again and dove down, leaving her leg thrown over his shoulder as he descended.

“Thank you,” he murmured, his tongue already darting out to taste her. “Gods, I could never make a wine as sweet as this, my sunbeam.” Rey snorted at the hyperbole, but soon she whimpered when her husband grabbed her other leg and placed it over his shoulder. Her heels dug into his back, her fingers tangled in his hair, while his tongue fucked into her over and over again, his fingers working quickly at her clit. He changed soon enough, tongue at her pearl, fingers working her open, and Rey gasped and stared at the stars above them, her body on fire with the careful attentions of her husband.

She screamed his name to the heavens, the most thorough celebration of Dionysus that had ever been recorded, and Poe continued to lap at her through it all, collecting her nectar as though each drop was precious. She tugged on his hair, impatiently, and he carefully moved up her body, kissing her stomach and sternum and breasts, a fire in his eyes when his cock aligned with her weeping core.

“No,” she whispered, a thought occurring to her. Poe froze, panic in his eyes, and moved back quickly, but Rey caught his hands. “Not yet.”

“Another round for you?” Poe asked greedily, the fear in his eyes quickly overtaken by lust once more. Rey shook her head, biting her lip gently.

“No,” she said, feeling shy once more. “No. I – I should like to taste you, now.”  Poe kissed her, and Rey tasted herself on his lips, but she shook her head. “Not like that.” She pushed him gently, guiding him into a kneeling position, and Poe looked at her with apprehension.

“You need not,” he began nervously. “I do not expect it of you.”

“I’d like to,” Rey argued. “I’d like to please you. I’d like to taste my husband’s cock.”

Poe let out a stream of curses in the ancient version of her language, curses she barely understood. His skin flushed powerfully, and his eyes grew darker. “Yes,” he growled, stroking his thumb along her jaw, his fingers soft on her throat for a moment. “I should like that too – but I do not want to finish in your mouth, wife.” Rey nodded, eyes already locked onto his proud, leaking cock, which had only hardened during his attentions to her.

“You will guide me?” She asked, already sliding onto her side. Rey looked up with her lip between her teeth, and saw her husband staring at her greedily. Poe reclined while he studied her face, and soon he was stretched out on his back, Rey on her side next to him, her head near his hip. “I do not know how.”

“Anything you do, I will love,” Poe swore to her, and Rey nodded before sitting up slightly. Before she could lose her nerve, she leaned down and traced his cock experimentally with her tongue – Poe jolted and cursed again, a dark sound. She laughed and did it again, and then again, using the broad flat of her tongue this time, and Poe’s fingers caught on the grass, his nails digging into the earth. “I do not think I could offer you any guidance,” Poe said, voice weak. Rey smirked and gently kissed the spot under the now-exposed head of his cock, the bundle of nerves he enjoyed her thumb rubbing at when she stroked him before sex. “You are doing very well.”

“Thank you,” Rey teased, then taking the head of his cock into her mouth and giving an experimental suck. Poe almost shouted, his hand gripping her upper arm now, and Rey felt more powerful than she ever had. She tried to take more of him into her mouth, but found it too much; she coughed slightly and had to stop, and Poe petted her hair anxiously while she recovered. “I’m fine,” she said hoarsely, diving back in to give him a few more generous licks from root to tip. “Don’t worry.”

“I’m worried about finishing,” Poe said shakily, and Rey giggled at him. “Please, let me lay with you as husbands lay with wives.”

“Yes.” Rey nodded and released his cock, but instead of rolling onto her back and allowing him to climb atop her, she studied his form with great interest, an idea in her mind.

“Yes, my love?”

“I should…I should like to try something else,” Rey said quietly. “If it would please you as well.”

“What idea does my clever wife have?” Poe tucked her short hair behind her ear, and Rey smiled at him before kneeling upright and swinging a leg over his hips. “Oh?” Poe looked very, very interested. “Is that so?”

Rey nodded, biting her lip once more. “I want to try it,” she said breathlessly, the thick, warm length of him so very tempting underneath her throbbing slit. Rey rolled her hips once, and it elicited a groan from husband and wife. Rey tossed her head back and rolled her hips a few more times, letting the head of his cock sit right underneath her clit, and her nails dug into Poe’s chest as she gasped and found herself approaching orgasm once more.

“Can you cum like this?” Poe asked wonderingly, a hand now at her hip, helping her push her hips down, helping her chase the delightful sensation. “Can you, and then still accept me?”

“Yes,” Rey said loudly, almost a scream as her eyes clenched shut. “Yes, yes, yes—” One artful twist of her hips had her screaming for Poe once more, and his own hips thrust continually through it, allowing Rey to ride out her orgasm. She collapsed on his chest afterwards, sighing, and Poe rubbed her back comfortingly, kissing her forehead. “Fuck me,” she ordered lazily. Poe laughed, a remarkable sound, and Rey ran her nails down his chest. His laughter stopped. “Please?”

Poe adjusted her slightly so her hips were once more over his cock. Rey barely had to lift herself so that his cock could slip into her cunt, notching slightly at first: Poe helped her work her hips down so he was sheathed fully inside of her, and Rey’s knees tightened around Poe’s sides as she moved her body along his length. “Oh,” she moaned, throwing her head back. Poe sat up, his abdominal muscles flexing underneath her, one of his hands still bracing his weight while his other buried itself in her hair, his lips attacking the column of her throat. “Oh!” When he returned to the ground, he brought her with him.

His feet planted against the ground, and he began to thrust upwards, taking charge slightly although he was underneath. Rey certainly had no problem with this, and she pressed kisses into his shoulder and chest at random as they chased towards their climax together. The angle was perfect, his pelvis bumping into her clit with every thrust, his cock reaching a spot inside of her that had stars bursting behind her eyes.

“Rey,” Poe choked out, his rhythm already growing unsteady. “I love you.” He kissed her, and she kissed him; they lost themselves in the embrace, their bodies moving as their souls melded in the night. Flowers grew taller, the grass grew thicker, and vines burst forth from the earth, their grapes lush and sweet as they formed in seconds –

All went unnoticed by the couple, whose love was the only thing worth nothing on this most auspicious autumn night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a third part planned for this that has adventure! and angst! and danger! and protective!poe
> 
>  
> 
> thoughts?


	3. Capture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey is captured in the marketplace, and finds herself in the company of a face she would rather forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNINGS**
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> So much violence
> 
> SO Much violence.
> 
> If you aren't familiar with the myths of Dionysus, know that he A) hates imprisonment/chains/kidnapping and B) once had an entire shipload of people murder each other when they tried to capture him (he can induce madness)
> 
> Did I mention VIOLENCE?
> 
> Lots of threats against Rey made in this chapter
> 
> Kidnapping
> 
> Bones breaking
> 
> Knives
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> Death threats
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> Violent Poe (not towards Rey, but he, uh, does get pretty violent)
> 
> Mention of past sexual assault
> 
> Characters die (not our main two, though)
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>  
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> THIS IS A DARK CHAPTER
> 
>  
> 
>  _Notes_
> 
> I'm well aware that "contracts" and "signing contracts" is NOT how marriage worked in Ancient Greece, but it's for the story, so, uh, maybe I just don't care about historical accuracy.

Later that winter, when Persephone - Jyn, as Rey knew her now - had been gone for nearly three months from the mortal world, Rey discovered that she was not yet excluded from the cruelty of man. And, it was a mistake that cost her dearly.

It was childish of her, to reject the offer of immortality made to her until she was ready to give birth to her first child. She and Poe coupled often, and enthusiastically, but she wished to prolong Poe’s cousin Eileithyia’s gift for as long as possible, the gift of a fertile union. She was only twenty-one, she thought, and she was only just getting used to being a mortal outside the control of her father. No need to exchange this life for an immortal one until she knew exactly who she was as a person.

Secretly, she thought to herself that this would give Poe time to change his mind; if she were immortal, it would be more difficult for him to realize he did not wish to be wed to her. She could not share this anxiety with Poe, but she had been wary of fully accepting the happiness of her life after the torment she suffered in Crete, the lifetime of abuse, and then the abandonment she faced after Ben betrayed her.

So, Rey remained mortal in the early months of their marriage, content to come and go as she pleased in the land of the immortals, in her husband’s house, and in the world of man. Poe indulged her in her visits to mortal towns and villages, and often accompanied her, disguised as a fisher or a farmer, the ragged chiton he’d worn when they met. If he were summoned elsewhere, to a bacchanalia held in his honor, or to an audience with his formidable father, she was attended by a trusted nymph in Poe’s service, typically Rose, who’d become a close friend.

It was there in the midwinter that tragedy befell her. Rey walked the marketplace in a small town on the coast of the mainland with her sweet friend, who grew distraught at the sight of goat meat for sale in a stall.

“Oh.” Rose held a hand to her mouth, limpid eyes watering and grieved.

“Oh?” Rey turned and spotted the offending product. “Oh, Rose, that is not -- it’s not like Chewbacca -- it is only a goat--”

“Only a goat,” Rose harrumphed and shook her head, small limbs locked and a steely glint in her eye. “What if that were one of your friends?’

_ Well, it’s a goat,  _ Rey wanted to point out,  _ I wouldn’t be friends with a goat,  _ but she held her tongue. Nymphs felt very passionately about justice, after all. Rey could respect that. 

She only sighed as Rose stomped to the stall and began to argue loudly with the shopkeeper over the morality of slaughtering goats for consumption. Hiding a smile behind her hand, Rey turned down the next aisle of stalls, her elegant  _ peplos _ skimming the ground as she moved; she hoped she wouldn’t attract attention in the  _ epiblema  _ Poe had given her as a gift last week, a gorgeous shawl made of some sort of fiber that shone, iridescent and delicate, in the setting sun. 

Humming a song her husband had sung to her last night as she fell asleep in his arms, exhausted by his per-usual enthusiastic lovemaking, Rey skimmed her fingers over the lengths of fabric for sale, and then caught sight of a small booth with trinkets that seemed to move on their own.

Remembering the inventions of Daedalus, the only person on Crete who’d been more prisoner than herself, Rey beamed and hurried forward to examine them. It was there that she made her error.

As she examined the toys, a deep, masculine voice hailed her unexpectedly.

“Πότνια?” 

Rey blinked in surprise and tilted her head.

“Nobody has called me by that title in a long time,” she said slowly, turning to face the man who’d greeted her.

“Are you Rey of Crete?” The man was dressed in the garments of not a soldier, but a commoner, and Rey nodded thoughtfully. 

“But I am no longer of Crete.” She smiled and turned from him, but he caught her arm.

“The king has been looking for you,” he said urgently, and Rey squinted in confusion even as she tried to wrench her arm from his grip. 

“There are no kings who should be looking for me.” She scowled and pulled her arm away forcefully. “Now, if you excuse me, my friend is waiting--”

“Ben of Athens.” Rey froze in true surprise, an unpleasant feeling uncoiling in her gut at the name. “He has been searching all the islands off the coast for you. Your father is dead, milady, and you must return to Crete.”

“I do not need to,” Rey sneered scornfully. “The people can rule--”

“My father is the leader of this village, and we have all been instructed to keep an eye out for you in case you arrived by boat. You’ve returned, and now I can take you to him.” Once again, he gripped her arm, and Rey pushed at his wrist to no avail.

“Unhand me, or I shall scream so loudly all the gods of Olympus will hear. I do not want to see your king ever again.”

“They promised a pot of gold to whoever found you.” The man -- more a boy, Rey realized now that she looked at him closely -- murmured, as though to himself. 

“It’s gold you want?” Rey laughed, almost hysterically, and looked over her shoulder. Rose had not followed her into this row of stalls, and she doubted she’d be heard over the wagon trundling past. “I can give you gold. Unhand me, and it will be done. More than even the king could give you.”

“It’s the king, milady. I cannot disobey the king.”

“Unhand me.” Rey gritted out, ready to pull the small knife Artemis had sent her as a wedding gift, but it was too late. The man pulled her close, gripping her arms so she couldn’t use them, and Rey screamed, loudly, and in anger, kicking at her would-be captor.

He clapped a hand over her mouth and dragged her out of sight behind a stall, and Rey spat and struggled and snarled like a wildcat, scoring her nails down his hands and arms, kicking him savagely in the soft part of his leg when she could. They tumbled to the ground after Rey got in a very good kick to his ankle, and they tussled in the dirt, Rey screaming when he didn’t have a hand over her mouth; she punched his throat in fury, and he gagged, this boy who was not quite a man who seemed determined to steal her freedom from her for nothing but gold.

He tired of fighting with her then, and with a muttered apology, he grabbed a rock from the ground nearby and lifted it up; Rey tried to roll out of the way, but after a sickening pain, all she knew was darkness. 

***

When she blinked back awake, she found herself, surprisingly, on a soft couch, and an unfamiliar one at that.

She appeared to be in some great hall, rows of pillars supporting a painted ceiling. Torches flickered throughout the space, and in the distance, musicians played. The opulence suggested powerful wealth, and Rey wondered, briefly, if Poe had discovered her in her panic and had rescued her from her capture.

No such luck: Rey sat up and groaned, lifting a hand to her temple. It came away covered in flakes of dried blood. Poe - or any of his cousins or siblings - would not have let her remain injured had they rescued her.

Rey tried to recall what Poe had told her in case they were separated cruelly, an invocation that would draw his attention no matter where she was in the mortal realm, but her head was too muddled by pain to think clearly, and the words kept escaping her. With a frustrated sigh, Rey stood on shaky legs and decided to see if she could merely walk to the exit, or, if need be, run. 

“You’re awake.”

It was a voice she’d tried hard to forget. Rey turned slowly to discover Ben of Athens, the prince she’d once cared for, leaning against a pillar, a soft smile on his mouth. 

“Ben.” Rey nodded at him coolly. “I hear you’ve become king. Should I offer condolences or congratulations?”

A flicker of pain crossed Ben’s face - he’d spoken highly of his father, after all, had loved him dearly. His loss should have been a cost even the most power-hungry would hesitate to celebrate. 

“My father was a fool,” he murmured after a moment, eyes growing cold. “His death was not my fault.”

_ That sounds like it was precisely your fault,  _ Rey wanted to say, but she withheld the urge for the time being, as she realized that she was most certainly the mouse in this game, and Ben, the cat.

“May I ask why I was brought here as your guest under so rude of circumstances?” Rey gestured to her hairline, where she knew a bloodied wound lay, and Ben winced.

“Ah, that. My … subject was very enthusiastic at making sure you were properly returned to me. I apologize.”

“Returned to  _ you, _ ” Rey repeated slowly, fury clawing at her throat. “As if I were your wayward property?”

“You were promised to me,” Ben murmured again, that same, silky voice that had spun her so many promises as they’d fled her father. He walked towards her, and Rey chanced a step back, but her couch was set up on a dais, and there was no where for her to run. “Or have you forgotten our betrothal?”

“Betrothal.” Rey laughed, a wisp of sound in her desperation. “I’m fairly certain abandoning me to die on an island nullifies  _ any  _ legality our slapdash betrothal might have had.”

“I did not wish to abandon you.” Ben’s hair had grown longer, and now brushed his shoulders. On anyone else, she might have said it was beautiful. But it framed a cold face, a cruel one, that looked at her as though she were meat to be consumed. “The gods told me I had to.”

“The gods,” Rey sneered. “Tell me, Ben, what do  _ you  _ know of the gods?”

“More than a little princess of Crete would,” he snapped, fury rising to the surface on his face, and Rey refused to show fear, although she certainly felt it. 

He seemed more unstable than she remembered, and she wondered what the death of his father and his ascent to power had cost him.

“Are you sure about that?” Rey whispered, but Ben did not listen to her.

“Your father is dead,” Ben continued, and he snapped his fingers. A crew of armed men entered, and in their midst was a man bearing a scroll of parchment and a reed brush. “Our kingdoms should be united. Given that you were never … declared dead, your children still have legitimate claim to the throne of Crete. Marry me now, and I will give you an heir.”

“Give me an--” Rey laughed again, a hysterical edge to it. “Trust me, I do not wish for  _ you  _ to put an heir in me, Ben.”

“Who else?” Ben hissed, and the men drew nearer to her. Rey wished for a weapon, for something to defend herself, but all she had were the sandals on her feet, and she only had two of those to use as a projectile in this moment. “Who else would claim you, if they knew of what transpired between us?”

“Nothing transpired between us,” Rey said hotly. “I was a virgin when we met, and a virgin when you abandoned me. And even if something  _ had  _ happened -- I am the daughter of Minos. I am the rightful bloodline. You have no power over me.”

“Don’t I?” Ben murmured, and grasped the hilt of the sword that he wore. “You do not need a hand to live, fair one.” 

A man lurched forward and grabbed her arm, and Rey pushed at him in shock, an angry exclamation on her lips. 

“You only need one hand to sign,” he continued, drawing near to her, his brows close together, a wicked look Rey had never seen the likes of on his face. 

Rey slapped him, hard, her nails raking down his face, catching on the skin, leaving an angry red line that went from eyebrow to chin. She only barely missed the eye itself, and she found that she regretted that it had been spared. Ben roared in anger, and the men held her tighter, cruelly, and Rey was unable to move to strike again. 

Ben lifted a hand to his face, and it came away bloody, much like Rey’s had when she’d woken.

“You’ll pay for that,” Ben remarked almost serenely, his eyes cold, and the hands that held her twisted painfully.

“I already have a husband,” Rey shouted, not in desperation, but in fury. “You cannot claim me. I claim myself, and my husband will slaughter you and this entire kingdom if you touch me--”

A bold declaration; Dionysus was not known for slaughter, but Rey knew enough of her husband to know that he would not care for the way Ben threatened her, and that knowledge made her bold.

“You have no husband,” Ben laughed. “You were alone on that island.” 

She couldn’t pull away when his large hand pressed against her cheek; she bit at it, and he only laughed. 

“You only need to sign, to marry me in front of these witnesses, and I will make sure your death is quick and painless.” He had cut to the heart of his argument, then.

He was going to kill her either way, but he was fooling himself if he thought Rey would give up so easily. Death was a small price to pay for her to maintain her freedom, her independence, herself, in these last moments.

“There is no need to worry about the provision of dowry, as your kingdom will suffice,” Ben drawled, and Rey felt another flare of rage in her gut. He waited for her to accept her fate, but it did not happen.

When she did not relent, her hands balled tightly into fists that would not accept the reed brush offered to her, Ben snarled and raised a knife to her neck. Rey’s resolve wavered, but did not disappear entirely.

She did not fear death. She only wished she could have seen her husband once more before dying, she wished she had not strayed from Rose in the market, she wished she had seen more of the world -- 

Rey turned her head as much as she dared, and looked to where there were no men in the hall; her breath caught, and she nearly sobbed, but resisted as she did not want to give Ben the satisfaction of seeing her weep before she died. 

“ _ Dionysus _ ,” she whispered, wanting her husband’s true name to be the last thing on her lips before she died.

“An odd god to pray to,” Ben mused, the blade pressing into her neck. “I would have thought Artemis would--”

The smell of green hit her nostrils, and Rey sucked in a breath. The light in the chamber seemed brighter now, and not from the torches on the walls, but something purer, more natural.

“What the hell?” A guard holding her in place muttered, and Ben pulled his knife away from her, his massive body blocking her view as he pivoted on the dais.

“Who are you?” He demanded, his voice bearing a false imperious quality. He was a king in name only, she realized, a weak man who hid behind power not truly earned.

Rey did not have to look to know that the newcomer was Poe. He had found her. She tried to say his name, but she couldn’t get the word past her trembling lips. 

Ben stalked down, off the dais, enough that her view was no longer impeded.

Golden eyes found hers across the room, and Rey quaked at the anger, bordering on madness, that were within them. He wore his simple tunic, the tattered one he’d worn when she met him, and his feet were bare, his hair wild. 

He did not answer the king of Athens.

“I asked you a question, fool,” Ben thundered. “Who are you?”

“A husband.” Poe stared at Ben now, and Rey shivered from the cold fury in his face.

Ben laughed.

Rey stared at his back, her terror momentarily forgotten in the face of his  _ stupidity.  _ Could he not feel the raw power emanating from Poe? He was surely a stranger to Ben, but his power was undeniable. 

“I have no idea how you got in here, but it will be the last mistake you ever made. Remove him from my presence,” Ben said lazily, waving a hand, but Poe began to walk forward, the ground shaking slightly with each of his steps. Ben was either too stupid or too caught up in his malice to notice.

“Release her,” Poe ordered coldly.

“Seize him,” Ben waved a hand over his shoulder and turned to sneer at Rey. “This peasant is who you would forsake me for? Forsake our bond?”

The guards not holding Rey rushed towards Poe, and he did not even lift a hand to them. Instead, he released a breath as though he had been holding it, and a strong breeze drifted through the hall. Rey’s eyes widened as the men turned on each other, tearing at one another, not even screaming in pain as bones were broken, skin was torn. 

“What is this--” Ben stumbled back, almost running into Rey, and the guards holding her tried to run, only to be caught up in the same spell of madness that had descended over the others, and they, too, joined the fray.

From deep in the palace, screams began to sound, and Rey realized the madness Poe had cursed them with was not limited to this room; Ben was pale in his horror, and Rey staggered back with a gasp when Ben tried to use her as a shield. Poe did not slow his steps in the slightest as he approached, and Rey covered her mouth with her hands as the first of the guards died, the others tearing him to pieces in their insanity.

Poe was in front of Ben, then, and the violent cacophony that soared through the room, the air thrumming with the danger of it all, reached new, impossible heights. 

“You touched my wife,” Poe said in that same detached, terrible voice that echoed when it shouldn’t have. He gripped Ben’s jaw punishingly and forced him into a kneeling position. “You’ll pay for that.” He sneered Ben’s words from earlier, from when he had terrorized Rey, and Ben’s eyes widened. 

“Please,” he choked out, his face beet red, his eyes leaking tears of their own. “Please, have mercy, Dionysus, I did not know she was yours.”

“You didn’t?” Poe released his jaw, and Ben heaved a sigh of relief. Rey gripped her seat in shock as Poe reached out with his other hand, lightning quick, and seized Ben by the throat. He choked and clawed at Poe’s hand, and Poe seemed to grow taller, the light around him pulsating. Rey saw the men who had held her become even more lost to the madness Poe had awakened in them, and their struggles increased tenfold, their fitful rages intensifying. 

“It should not matter,” Poe said. Ben’s feet kicked out from where he was held aloft – Rey blinked, not understanding, Poe was a full head shorter than Ben, was he not? – and he gasped fruitlessly. “It should not matter if  _ she is mine,  _ she is her own, and she did not want you. And you tried to claim her anyway.” He threw Ben down in a heap at Rey’s feet. “Now, apologize.”

“I am sorry,” Ben said, and Rey almost felt sympathy for him. Almost.

“Sorry for?” Poe snarled, his sandaled foot pressing down on Ben’s leg. It shattered with a crack, and Rey fought back a scream of surprise at the same time Ben bellowed in agony. 

“Sorry for taking you,” Ben sobbed. “Sorry for touching you, sorry for saying those things?’

“And?” Poe asked. “And the island?”

“I’m sorry for leaving you.” Ben wiped his nose and stared at Poe over his shoulder. “Forgive me?”

“You don’t deserve it.” Poe answered for Rey and picked Ben up by the back of his tunic like a rag doll. “And now you’ll die. I charge you, Ben of Athens, with kidnapping, with murder, with patricide, and with rape.” Ben spluttered, and Poe shook his head. “No. My wife was spared that fate, but there were others, were there not? Liberties you took as a princeling, spoiled, indulged in all ways -- cruelties you enacted with a sword at your hip to make you bold. You do this world no favors by occupying it, and so I sentence you to death.”

Ben howled something, a plea for mercy, but Poe was beyond mercy.

“My aunt certainly looks forward to greeting you in her husband’s realm. She always did hate rapists.” Poe threw him dispassionately into the group of his men, still struggling, still brawling, and Rey flinched away from the sound of flesh being torn apart, Ben’s screams of terror.

Within seconds, she was in Poe’s arms, and he was whispering to her. “Don’t look,” he murmured in her ear, kissing her cheek delicately. “Don’t look, my sunbeam.”

“P-poe,” Rey sobbed. “I want to go home.” He nodded and gathered her up; then they were gone.

They did not arrive in the meadow that Poe loved so dearly, but in a warm, softly lit bedchamber. Poe lay her down on a comfortable chaise and began to run his hands impulsively over her body, his eyes agonized, his expression grim, and Rey clutched at him, relieved but terrified still. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, I did not mean to upset you, I am--”

“Upset me?” Poe shook his head, his lip trembling, all signs of fury now gone. “I am only upset that you had to witness that; I never wished for you to see me act so beastly-”

Rey laughed, disbelievingly, and shook her head. “You are not beastly, my love. But - you are not angry with me for wandering in the marketplace?”

“No.” Poe draped his body over hers. Rey remained on her side, tears coursing down her face, staining the chaise beneath her. “No, no, my love, my darling girl.” More kisses threaded through her hair and on her cheeks, each one with a breathless exclamation of his undying love for her. “I am only angered that I do not have my uncle’s talent – I cannot bring _that man_  back to life so I may kill him again, slowly, creatively.”

Rey smiled, her eyes still closed, and Poe kissed her temple, his hand stroking her short hair. 

“I love you,” he whispered once more. “I love you impossibly so, my sweet girl. I thought you were lost. I thought I would discover your body, torn asunder from your beautiful soul, when I entered that hall. I have never known fear like that,” his voice broke, a clear, horrible break, "and I never wish to know that fear again. I would rather perish a second time than know what it is to lose you, my sweet Rey."

Rey shook, unable to contain her grief and fear anymore, and she sobbed openly in the arms of her husband, her husband who loved her and had fought for her, had killed for her. He attended to her carefully, kissing what he could, what he dared, and murmuring kindnesses into her hair and skin, and they held each other until Apollo’s chariot crossed the sky once more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy...May the fourth...countdown?
> 
>  
> 
> (if you thought THIS was dark, you should see my outline)


End file.
